with the note, "I often feel left out on TBT since I really have so few old pics in digital format (yes, I'm that old!) But had fun going through photos at Mom & Dad's recently. Abby and Shari, do you remember this one? I'm pretty sure it was taken when we visited CO after we had moved to Texas. I recognize Guano but who are the other kids?"
I have no recollection whatsoever of this photo being taken, but I knew every kid in it right away. I'm guessing it was taken just prior to my freshman or sophomore year of high school.
That be me on the far left, my BFFC is third from the left in the back, her little sister Shari in front of her. Guano is next to her in the green shirt. The girl in blue next to me is the older sister of the boy on the far right.
We're standing/sitting in and around an ice cream truck.
The girl in blue and her brother had an ice cream truck business. They hired my brother Guano as a third employee, maybe considering that the young brother in orange wasn't yet old enough to drive?
The ice cream truck consisted of a Toyota (I think) pickup with a homemade canopy covering the ice cream freezer in the bed.
I don't remember how many summers the truck was in operation or how much profit it raked in. Just something I imagine the parents thought up to keep the kids out of trouble and productive?
I often accompanied Guano during his shifts, and I think it's safe to say that the ice cream truck was a pretty popular business around town. There was a bell attached to a string for ringing that reached into the cab - none of those electro tunes that play in ice cream trucks nowadays. I also remember my Grandma referring to Guano as "The Good Humor Man", which usually put him in ill humor.
And I know it looks and sounds all very Normal Rockwellian, and it almost was...
In our hometown, a major pastime was going cruising on Friday and Saturday nights, or "Dragging Main" as we called it. Anyone who was anyone Dragged Main on the weekends. Looking for a party, looking to hook up, looking to be seen.
So there was Guano with a fresh driver's license and no car. But he had an ice cream truck! Yeah, I remember Dragging some Main in that ice cream truck, the Norman Rockwellian bell accidentally clanging on the bumpy roads, followed by Guano saying, "SH*T, go get the bell!"
Now, my youngest kid is about to be a high school freshman. How can that be? I still often think of myself as that kid riding shotgun in the ice cream truck, or hanging out at the pool with my friends while my brother, The NOT Good Humor Man, would sell a freezer full of treats in the pool parking lot.
And who knew an ice cream truck's tires could squeal in the pool parking lot? Unless by some strange connection, the owners of the truck come across this blog post. In that case, there's no way that cute truck laid rubber in the pool parking lot, EXCEPT THAT IT DID.
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For the prompt:
2.) What grade is your child going to be in? Share a memory you have of yourself at that same age.
15 comments:
What awesome memories! Isn't it hard to believe our kids are that age when we feel like we're STILL at that age. Crazy.
I recognized you right away. And Guano, after I learned he was one of the gang. Nice that he didn't mind his little sister tagging along while Dragging Main. We used to go cruisin' down our own Main Street... in cars just as embarrassing as a clanging ice cream truck.
This post is all kinds of awesome. It brought me back to my teenage summers. We were "Cruising the 'Pike." I can't even imagine how popular a homegrown ice cream truck would have been in my neighborhood. I love looking at old photos, too, but I often can't remember the other kids in the pictures.
Man, it wasn't easy being "cool" while Draggin' Main in a ding-a-linging converted mini pickup ice cream truck, even though I KNEW I shoulda been rockin' a '69 Dodge Charger! (Clearly the owners didn't know I was a hotrod wannabe). But hey, we gave it our all, didn't we! So much of small town livin' resides in our heads anyway....
Great pic btw, practically an archeological find. I've no recollection of it either, but what a hit from our past. Glad you've connected with BFFC. Good times. :-)
Looking back, the ice cream truck was a great entrepreneurial idea as there wasn't another one in our little town. That greatness didn't necessarily carry over as a vehicle for cruising!
I understand that Dragging Main is no longer a thing. How do kids embarrass themselves now?? Oh... sexting...
Draggin' Main in a ding-a-linging converted mini pickup ice cream truck... with your little sister! Now THAT's got "Chick Magnet" written all over it!
I have no idea the circumstances of that pic, but it was fun to have it show up.
What a great photo! I could definitely get on board an ice cream truck business. Perfect job for a kid at that age...or this age actually. Sign me up!
That was such a cute post and picture!! You two are still as cute now as you were then!! (This is S-I-L!) :)
Very cute indeed! I have to tell you, as it's going to be 101 here, anyone with an ice cream truck would have me on a very short leash indeed.
What a great throwback memory. I recall the rare few times an ice cream truck roam our neighborhood and the ensuing crowd that it attracted. I gotta admit, I am a tad jealous that Guano got that job. May not have paid much, but it seems like a cool job to have during the summer. Interesting to hear how well an ice cream truck to lay rubber (kudos to the driver).
Now, the bigger question I have is, I want to hear MORE about the time when you moved down here to Texas?
And it was a popular truck, I tellya!
Ha! Maybe a different kind of cute? And thanks for verifying your ID, thought I was gonna have to come bounce some spam!
101?! Well, that just deserves ice cream for free.
Oh, WE never lived in Texas (Guano was stationed in Del Rio for a while). My BFFC moved there. In fact, she still lives there - have you seen her??
My sister and I had to take turns driving our parents' Country Squire station wagon with wood panels if we wanted to go out. Talk about uncool! At least the ice cream truck had ice cream!
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